Museum Bolsters German Art Collection

The Harvard Art Museum announced a donation of 50 to 75 pieces of modern and contemporary German art to the Busch-Reisinger Museum on Friday.

The gift, donated by a group of 240 supporters of the museum will strengthen the Busch-Reisinger’s collection of post-1960 German art, HAM Director Thomas W. Lentz said yesterday.

German art historian Siegfried Gohr will supervise the gift, which was donated by the Friends of Busch-Reisinger, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary.

The first 26 works are scheduled to arrive this fall, with the remaining pieces to be installed in intervals over the next few years.

The “Friends Anniversary Collection” will be organized in different categories: individual major paintings, representative groups of eight to 10 major drawings by significant artists, and photographs by members of the Dusseldorf School.

Lentz emphasized the significance of the donation for the museum’s collection.

“It fills an obvious gap for us. The Busch-Reisinger Museum collects art from the medieval era to the present. But in recent years there has been an emphasis on art from the modern period, and we have significant gaps from this period,” he said.

According to Lentz, the Friends Gift will help illuminate questions about contemporary German art, which has long captivated the minds of historians in the art world.

“Given not just the history, but also the intellectual and cultural history of Germany in the post-World War II period, German art offers fascinating insight into a variety of historical development.” Lentz said.

German history has played an integral role in the artwork the country has produced, according to the art director.

“When you think of what German society has gone through, it is fascinating to see how their intellectual and social fervent ferments itself in the visual arts, ” Lentz said.

The gift adds to an already diverse collection at the Busch-Reisinger Museum, which since its founding in 1901 has been the only American museum which specializes in displaying artwork of all periods from central and northern Europe, especially art from the German-speaking countries.

Lentz said the gift would add greatly to the University’s educational program.

“To have the ability to focus on an area so rich in intellectual and cultural history is yet another powerful resource for teaching and learning at Harvard,” Lentz said.